On November 30, 2018, representatives of Mexico, Canada and the United States signed the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) to replace the current NAFTA agreement governing trade between the three North American neighbors.

AFGE (American Federation of Government Employees) held a rally and march to end the government shutdown on January 19. Over 10 unions were represented, including teachers, electricians and nearly a dozen rank-and-file Teamsters. Several speakers gave personal accounts of how they and their families had been affected.

After the electoral victory of Democrat Tony Evers over Wisconsin's incumbent Republican governor Scott Walker, the Republican state senate has taken unprecedented steps to grab power back from the governor's office.

The United Steelworkers (USW) and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) announced December 13 that workers at Tesla’s solar panel factory in Buffalo will hold a union organizing drive.

Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) teachers, paraprofessionals and support staff at 15 charter schools run by the UNO/Acero charter network are striking for a third day, December 6, and extending picket times to two shifts at each school.

Negotiations continued between Teamsters Local 705 and UPS, October 25 and 26, on a collective bargaining agreement covering nearly 10,000 Chicago-area workers and one of the last two to settle with UPS around the country.

Over 300 militant parents and students, along with teachers who are members of United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), gathered at LA Unified School District (LAUSD) headquarters, October 23, to protest Superintendent Austin Beutner. Near the end of the rally, they all marched into the LAUSD superintendent’s office and staged an occupation, demanding to meet with Beutner.

Approximately 1700 hotel workers in Boston walked off the job on Wednesday, October 3. The strike includes seven hotels across the city: the Sheraton Boston, Westin Copley Square, Westin Waterfront, Aloft Seaport, Element Seaport, W Hotel, and the Ritz-Carlton. All the hotels involved are operated by Marriott International, which is both the largest hotel employer in Boston and the largest hotel chain in the world.

Reports from the struggle

"Working with Frank over the past five years, I have seen something that highlights the importance of this book. In his role leading the struggle for community control of the Chicago police, Frank instantly commands the respect and trust of those in and around the movement who have been wrongfully convicted or who have wrongfully convicted family members in prison. When he points the way forward, they believe in him. This book will only cement further the status he has in their struggle."